Exploring Jump Balls Data plus Height Difference

06Jan

If you expected a follow-up to a post with 4-Year data about jump balls then you know me well ;-)
Because when I collect some information it’s almost inevitable that I’ll explore it for as many nuggets as I can find.

Although for the sake of continuity I’ll make simple version of this data available for everyone,
here’s a table with data combined across last 4 regular seasons:

Most Jump Balls Attempts

Won

Total

Win%

Continuation

Won

Total

Win%

Tim Duncan

223

392

56,89

Andrew Bynum

140

211

66,35

Dwight Howard

255

384

66,41

Brendan Haywood

82

210

39,05

Emeka Okafor

175

364

48,08

Brad Miller

97

202

48,02

Josh Smith

212

362

58,56

Pau Gasol

119

193

61,66

Samuel Dalembert

222

335

66,27

Andris Biedrins

77

183

42,08

Brook Lopez

156

306

50,98

Jeff Green

76

182

41,76

Andrew Bogut

169

297

56,90

Luis Scola

33

170

19,41

Al Jefferson

136

291

46,74

Jermaine O’Neal

99

168

58,93

Marc Gasol

167

276

60,51

Yao Ming

73

168

43,45

Marcus Camby

180

276

65,22

Roy Hibbert

77

165

46,67

Kendrick Perkins

124

261

47,51

Darko Milicic

85

164

51,83

Shaquille O’Neal

186

259

71,81

Joel Przybilla

87

161

54,04

Tyson Chandler

150

259

57,92

David Lee

35

151

23,18

Chris Bosh

153

255

60,00

Rasheed Wallace

41

124

33,06

Amare Stoudemire

157

252

62,30

JaVale McGee

77

121

63,64

Nene Hilario

138

251

54,98

Chris Kaman

61

117

52,14

Erick Dampier

139

234

59,40

Jared Jeffries

46

116

39,66

Joakim Noah

144

232

62,07

Robin Lopez

60

116

51,72

Mehmet Okur

112

232

48,28

LaMarcus Aldridge

56

114

49,12

Ben Wallace

144

226

63,72

Kwame Brown

65

113

57,52

Zydrunas Ilgauskas

136

218

62,39

DeAndre Jordan

63

105

60,00

Spencer Hawes

95

216

43,98

Andrea Bargnani

38

101

37,62

Best Winning%[min. 40]

Won

Total

Win%

Height Diff.

Worst Winning%[min. 40]

Won

Total

Win%

Height Diff.

Shaquille O’Neal

186

259

71,81

2,01

Luis Scola

33

170

19,41

-1,77

Gerald Wallace

39

56

69,64

-0,96

David Lee

35

151

23,18

-1,71

Rudy Gay

32

47

68,09

1,15

Udonis Haslem

15

54

27,78

-1,13

Dwight Howard

255

384

66,41

0,12

Kevin Love

15

51

29,41

1,06

Andrew Bynum

140

211

66,35

1,10

Rasheed Wallace

41

124

33,06

-1,00

Samuel Dalembert

222

335

66,27

0,11

Chris Wilcox

26

78

33,33

-0,79

Lamar Odom

31

47

65,96

1,45

Sean Williams

15

42

35,71

-0,09

Marcus Camby

180

276

65,22

-0,11

Mark Blount

18

50

36,00

1,14

Kenyon Martin

33

51

64,71

0,90

Joel Anthony

29

80

36,25

-1,66

Ben Wallace

144

226

63,72

-1,91

Nazr Mohammed

27

73

36,99

-0,66

JaVale McGee

77

121

63,64

0,96

Andrea Bargnani

38

101

37,62

1,29

Zydrunas Ilgauskas

136

218

62,39

4,28

Drew Gooden

31

82

37,80

-0,90

Amare Stoudemire

157

252

62,30

-0,46

Kurt Thomas

23

60

38,33

-1,58

Joakim Noah

144

232

62,07

0,52

Brendan Haywood

82

210

39,05

1,36

LeBron James

29

47

61,70

-0,36

Mikki Moore

18

46

39,13

0,48

Pau Gasol

119

193

61,66

0,94

Jared Jeffries

46

116

39,66

0,40

Marc Gasol

167

276

60,51

2,38

Jason Collins

22

55

40,00

1,25

Chris Bosh

153

255

60,00

-0,69

Hilton Armstrong

20

50

40,00

0,50

DeAndre Jordan

63

105

60,00

0,27

Jeff Green

76

182

41,76

-1,63

Erick Dampier

139

234

59,40

-0,04

Andris Biedrins

77

183

42,08

0,17

Kevin Garnett

29

49

59,18

1,18

Andray Blatche

33

78

42,31

0,58

Jermaine O’Neal

99

168

58,93

0,33

Serge Ibaka

31

73

42,47

-0,11

Josh Smith

212

362

58,56

-1,83

Yao Ming

73

168

43,45

6,84

Tyson Chandler

150

259

57,92

2,07

Eddy Curry

27

62

43,55

1,11

Kwame Brown

65

113

57,52

-0,25

Spencer Hawes

95

216

43,98

1,25

Dan Gadzuric

31

54

57,41

0,28

Amir Johnson

35

78

44,87

-0,81

Andrew Bogut

169

297

56,90

1,19

Wilson Chandler

29

64

45,31

-1,67

Tim Duncan

223

392

56,89

0,21

J.J. Hickson

36

79

45,57

-1,39

Among losers we basically have players who probably shouldn’t be asked to jump for it [although I didn’t expect to see Yao and Ibaka on that list, was it a timing problem?] but on the left we have a very interesting mix of giants, leapers and veterans so we probably should focus more on one factor missing – opponents.EvanZ adjusted for their quality… but what about their size?How much does size difference help players in winning jump balls?
Here’s how [I used listed height from basketballreference.com’s downloable database]…

winning jump balls height difference

So advantage of two inches is worth one additional jump ball win for every 10 attempts, then it is surprisingly steady at 65% winning percentage for the difference between +4 and +8 inches and finally there is an overwhelming advantage with 9 or more inches of height.

But keep in mind that the bigger difference in height the the smaller is number of such duels and I combined those above 13 into one. By my count there were five jump ball duels with a difference of 15 or more inches in height between players and because that’s a great curiosity here are links to all of them:

As you would expect it’s 4 wins for the giants right there… wait, what? 4 out of 5?
Yes, because somehow in the last one Darrick Martin’s team gained a possessions!
I have no idea how that happened but you probably have to credit his teammates which begs a question…what can we find in data about players who catched the winning jump ball?

Player

Season 10-11

Season 09-10

Season 08-09

Season 07-08

4-Year Total

Steve Nash

58

76

60

74

268

Jameer Nelson

76

64

44

54

238

Tony Parker

72

42

42

36

192

Raymond Felton

44

48

54

38

184

Andre Miller

50

44

42

42

178

Chauncey Billups

38

46

64

30

178

Chris Paul

48

38

44

48

178

Jason Kidd

30

54

50

42

176

Derek Fisher

16

58

44

40

158

Deron Williams

40

46

40

26

152

Devin Harris

36

14

50

52

152

Mike Conley

58

48

32

10

148

Dirk Nowitzki

46

28

30

38

142

Derrick Rose

58

54

28

0

140

Mo Williams

30

36

30

42

138

Zach Randolph

42

46

30

20

138

Jose Calderon

22

32

40

40

134

Kevin Garnett

46

52

20

14

132

Beno Udrih

36

32

30

26

124

Mike Bibby

30

34

38

22

124

Joe Johnson

22

32

40

28

122

Rajon Rondo

18

28

48

28

122

Steve Blake

2

24

28

68

122

Lamar Odom

30

36

20

34

120

Rashard Lewis

24

24

34

36

118

Kenyon Martin

22

22

26

44

114

Al Horford

22

36

16

38

112

LaMarcus Aldridge

50

10

44

6

110

Rafer Alston

0

32

44

28

104

Andre Iguodala

10

30

34

26

100

Kirk Hinrich

30

14

8

48

100

Paul Pierce

30

22

10

32

94

Danny Granger

24

28

24

16

92

Gerald Wallace

18

30

20

24

92

LeBron James

20

32

22

18

92

Brandon Jennings

24

66

0

0

90

Pau Gasol

50

20

16

4

90

Russell Westbrook

30

34

24

0

88

Boris Diaw

24

28

30

4

86

Jarrett Jack

10

34

22

20

86

Luke Ridnour

38

12

32

4

86

Luol Deng

28

28

14

16

86

Elton Brand

30

44

10

0

84

Rodney Stuckey

22

28

30

4

84

Rudy Gay

14

26

16

28

84

Luis Scola

6

8

44

22

80

That’s probably more boring than I hoped for – mostly point guards who played with center very good at winning jump balls – and I published it because I think there’s one nugget here: have I stumbled into unknown skill by Steve Nash? I’m not only talking about the size of his lead but it seems that he catched basically every jump ball which his center had won… and there were 5 of them in the last 4 years!
So either he is very good at positioning or Suns have a very consistent strategy where the ball should go… have someone watched enough Suns’ games to let me know what’s going on here?